Technology to Change Diagnostics Testing
Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp. has announced a review of its core technology - covering the cost and practical advantages of the High Throughput Screening-Magnetic Testing Platform (HTS-MTP) system:
Today, the laboratory wholesale cost of a confirmatory (Western Blot) test is between $35 and $50. The same cost for a screening test is between $2.5 and $5. However, any positive or indeterminate result must be confirmed by a Western Blot test. So that brings the wholesale cost of testing each infected person between $37.50 and $55.
On top of that, an infected person is often given periodic viral load tests, which measures the amount of virus in his/her body. Viral load tests are important for designing treatments and measuring their effectiveness. The wholesale costs for viral load tests are $80 to $120.
The advantage of our HTS-MTP system is that it performs the screening, confirmatory and viral load test in a single function for the single cost of $2.50; a tremendous savings to a health care system. The HTS-MTP is the only diagnostics system that performs all three functions in a single test. Plus, unlike most testing systems, the HTS-MTP can measure the presence of the disease in any bodily fluid -- blood, semen, urine, spinal fluid, tears, saliva, etc.
How our HTS-MTP system works using a test tube and the HIV virus as an example.
-- The bottom of a test tube is coated with antibodies that have an affinity to the HIV virus.
-- A sample of fluid extracted from a patient is placed in the tube.
-- Fluorescence dye is introduced into the test tube
-- A second group of antibodies that have been attached to magnetic micro-spheres are added to the fluid.
-- If the HIV virus is present, it will bind to both sets of antibodies and be drawn to the bottom of the test tube.
-- Magnetic sensors located directly underneath the test tube measure the magnetic resonance of the micro-spheres; the strength of this field determines the number magnetic particles giving us quantitative results.
-- An Optical Reader measures the wavelength of the fluorescence attached to the antigen if present, providing redundancy and the technicians know within minutes whether the virus is present, and in exactly what quantity.
The superiority and cost effectiveness of the HTS-MTP system makes Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corporation's process very attractive in the rapidly growing in vitro testing industry!
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